Presenting exhibit A

Not so long back I wrote a post entitled "It's all about the Brexit vibe", detailing an evolving theory of trickle down opinion forming, with opinion formers having cascade influence. They create the overall tapestry by which a movement will be judged.

I believe this referendum will be won or lost on the basis of the vibe coming from the Leave campaign and its supporters. I believe that vibe is created by the shape the public debate takes and what impression that opinion formers get of it. The end choice will be Cool Britannia vs Captain Mainwaring. Who assumes which role, depends entirely on who has the better vision - and whether it is believable.

Middle-aged, grumpy men talking about the Anglosphere or the Commonwealth suggests either harking back to a bygone age, or some white English-speakers only club. If we did talk about an exciting new global vision, measured against the rhetoric of hardline Leavers, nobody will buy it.

And now, as if to demonstrate the dynamic, we now have the massively popular Daily Mash spelling it out.

PEOPLE campaigning for Britain to leave the EU privately hope the country stays in so they can keep bitching about it. As the anti-European campaign cranks up its rhetoric, thousands of people are secretly praying for a ‘stay’ vote so they can continue to use the term ‘EUSSR’ and imply that all Bulgarians are thieves.

One Eurosceptic said: “We can’t see the point of foreigners at all. But at the same time, I need to be able to complain about them fiddling with my sovereignty with their big, dirty fingers. “Also, discovering the term ‘EUSSR’ is literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Another campaigner added: “I would love it if the French had the common decency to admit they’re not as good as me and some of my friends. “But deep down, we realise we’re like Arsenal – without Europeans, we’d be nothing. Can’t we just be allowed to whine like children?”

The Daily Mash has 106147 followers on Twitter. And that is why campaigns must be centred around a central vision with messages that cascade from it, rather than a torrent of scattergun whinges. That's why data driven campaigns are bad news - and this is why Ukip and friends have lost the referendum. The Daily Mash has got their number - and it is a wholly self-inflicted wound.

UPDATE: A toryboy joyously misses the point entirely.

This level of stupidity perhaps explains why the message doesn't sink in.